Monday, November 10, 2008

I received a seemingly large volume of emails today, and as I was deleting them, I thought it might be helpful to list them out. The promotions are piling up this holiday season, from Eddie Bauer to Neiman Marcus, with more discounts than free shipping (so far).

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

It’s November and our holiday season is officially here. The market is up and today’s election could make history. We are all planning for 09, and the number of revisions to our forecasts has hit double digits.

We are busy with cost-cutting measures, new initiatives, and plans to optimize our existing business (from page counts to merchandising). We can not use the economy as our excuse for weak sales and sit back and wait. Or can we?

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to understand, when you are down in sales 20% to LY, how much of that is the economy and how much of it is our own business decisions.

I was a Pottery Barn customer before I worked for Williams-Sonoma Inc., and I am still a Pottery Barn customer. This brand is struggling along with the rest of the home décor and furnishings market, but to my consumer eye, the catalog and the retail stores have never looked better. Perhaps expensive leather was not the right fall statement in a weak economy, but overall, the brand still looks great.

How do you preserve the brand you have created, while making changes to combat declining sales in a temporary economic climate?

Directly Speaking is written by the Growth Strategies Group, a division of Belardi/Ostroy

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The mission of the Growth Strategies Group is to drive sales and file growth as cost effectively as possible. Our focus is on delivering tangible and actionable value. This includes advanced analytics, strategic planning, circulation planning, and online marketing. We take a hands-on approach with all clients and enjoys diving into the challenges facing marketers today.